Chris Hoy Supports

6x Olympic Champion11x World Champion

40 school children given the chance to ride through Richmond Park with the multi-awarded Olympian

LONDON. Monday 9th December 2013:

Today, Sir Chris Hoy kick-started the seasonal celebrations for 30 children from St. Mary’s and St. Peter’s Church of England Primary School with a Christmas-themed bike ride in Richmond Park.

The winning class, from a local Richmond-Upon-Thames school, was chosen by Hoy following the submission of poems and drawings to a competition with the theme, ‘memories of my first bike.’ The competition was run by Evans Cycles and designed to celebrate the joy of cycling and share these great memories.

Highstreet cycle experts, Evans Cycles, has a long-standing partnership with Hoy who is tasked with inspiring the next generation of cyclists. He comments, “the effort that went into each competition submission was phenomenal. I remember my first bike – a BMX that I was given when I was seven years old – and how excited I was to start riding it. Hopefully riding with these children today will go some way to deepen their enthusiasm for the sport.”

The winning entry was an advent calendar that had a photo and story from each child in the class underneath every window and will be displayed in the Evans Cycles in Kingston, until Christmas along with the other entries.

“At Evans Cycles we believe in selling proper bikes for little riders to help them experience the joy and freedom you get from cycling. But we wanted to go further than that this Christmas. We wanted to find a way to go beyond the humble bicycle and really excite kids about the sport – so we gave them the opportunity to ride with one of cycling’s greats,” says Gareth Evans, Marketing Manager, Evans Cycles.

Watch as the UK’s most successful Olympian and top street trials rider get together to show you what they can do. You can even enter to win a Special Edition Planet X road bike worth £1,700, a signed rainbow jersey from Sir Chris Hoy or a ‘MacAskill’ Edition POC helmet signed by Danny himself!

Sir Chris made the announcement in Edinburgh in front of a packed media room at Murrayfield Stadium.

Sir Chris comments: “Today I formally announce my retirement from international competition. This is a decision that hasn’t come easily, but after discussing it at length with my wife Sarra, my family and my coaches, I am happy that this the right time.

During my 19 years competing at senior level I’ve witnessed the sport of cycling in the UK flourish and transform beyond all recognition, and to have been there for the journey gives me huge satisfaction. I have many wonderful memories from traveling and competing all over the world in numerous events, not least the four Olympic Games, three Commonwealth Games and 16 World Championships. During this time I’ve not only had success, but a lot of fun too.

I have been incredibly lucky to have had the support of some amazing people throughout my career; my coaches, team mates, team support staff, sponsors, management, fans and of course my family and friends. None of my victories would have been possible without their help.

Having had time since the London Olympics to reflect on my career, I know this is the right moment to bow out. Nothing would have given me more pride and pleasure than to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games next year in Glasgow, but I feel that it would be a year too far and I wouldn’t be able to perform at a level which would do myself and the team justice. I hope this will give the chance for a younger rider to step into the team and shine.

In the future there are many projects that I’m very excited to be getting involved with; a Games Ambassador role for both Glasgow 2014 and the 2018 Youth Olympic Bid, supporting a number of charities including UNICEF and SAMH, and continuing to design and develop my own range of bikes. I’m also looking forward to spending more time together with Sarra.

I’m pleased to say that cycling is still something I love to do and I’ll continue riding bikes for pleasure for the rest of my life. I’m passionate about encouraging people of all ages and abilities to get on their bikes and experience the benefits it can bring.”